Wealthy donors funded the project under the belief that tonsil removal offered a universal benefit to the less fortunate. The pharyngeal tonsils, or adenoids, are at the back of the nasal passage and are also commonly taken out. If tonsils are removed, the same diversity of immune cells is still present and circulating in the body. For decades, tonsillectomies were performed mostly to resolve frequent tonsillitis, an infection of the tonsils caused by Streptococcus A bacteria. “That’s where you get problems with snoring, mouth breathing, and sleep disordered breathing,” Mitchell says.